MEDITECH Web Ambulatory Implementation: 3 Things to Consider

When implementing MEDITECH Web Ambulatory, there are multiple considerations to take into account. MEDITECH Web Ambulatory is designed to leverage the MEDITECH Acute environment and requires a holistic approach to the overall system design, process design, implementation model, and support model. If you are considering a project of this size, here are three initial considerations to keep in mind:

Integrated Platform: Integration is one of the primary reasons to migrate to MEDITECH Web Ambulatory but it is very important to allocate the necessary time and resources throughout project to configure the system and have processes in place that support the platform. When organizations migrate from another ambulatory system to MEDITECH Web Ambulatory, integration can significantly affect every aspect of the organization. Leadership will need to balance short-term needs and long-term plans when making these types of decisions for example, deciding how many facilities and business units are needed for the integrated environment. If an organization is in a single facility, they can create more consistency across different clinics or physical locations. Alternatively, in terms of the revenue cycle, they can share the same settings for charge master codes. However, multiple factors such as organizational structure, workflow, reporting, and support model should be carefully considered because this integrated platform requires organizations to understand how interactions occur between ambulatory and acute environments. For example, which dictionaries are shared or not, and how data is shared.

Third Party Software: MEDITECH Web Ambulatory requires multiple third party software applications including required vendors such as First Databank, IMO, and Dr. First. In addition, there are third party software applications for faxing, appointment reminders, claims submission, insurance eligibility, medical necessity, patient education, voice recognition, and Meaningful Use (MU)/Quality reporting requirements. It is important to identify the third party applications your organization requires during the planning phase so there is appropriate time to implement them during the project. To create more efficiencies, an organization can consolidate vendors as each third party is evaluated for example, going from two claims submission vendors to one. It’s also beneficial to identify which applications were bundled into the legacy ambulatory environment as opposed to a separate solution in the MEDITECH environment.

Conversion: MEDITECH Web Ambulatory supports different data conversions whether an organization is migrating from a legacy MEDITECH product or another vendor solution. Decision makers will need to create an inventory of what needs to be converted, conversion costs, data entry costs, physician satisfaction, end user satisfaction, and the actual migration to the integrated platform. While MEDITECH provides the ability to convert the master patient index with historical encounters/accounts, allergies, vital signs/clinical queries, home medication, problem list, and family history from another vendor, they require organizations to provide an initial test file at least six months prior to their go-live date. It’s important to understand what data can be provided from legacy vendor in order to establish a conversion strategy as it becomes a factor regarding time, testing requirements, and resource allocation during the project.

Next Steps

If you are considering implementing a new system or upgrading your current MEDITECH environment, our team would be happy to provide specific insight depending on your needs and answer any questions you might have. Please contact us at info@parallontechnology.com or call us at (855) 276-9112. We encourage you to subscribe to our blog to catch more insight on the remaining phases in this series on implementation.